Diary of a CEO - Part 5: My Son's First Words

My Search for How to Truly “WOW” Our Clients

8-Part Blog Series by Omar Soliman, Founder and CEO of College Hunks

Part 5: My Son’s First Word

Welcome back everyone. As you know,I’m Omar Soliman, Founder and CEO of
College Hunks Hauling Junk and
College Hunks Moving and I’ve been sharing my thoughts on the “WOW” movement.
I’ve been giving you my personal insight and opinions on different
aspects of “WOW.” This week, though, I want to talk to you
about a truly personal part of “WOW.”

See, usually in life, there isn’t much certainty. Life’s funny
that way, never letting you know whether or not you’re on the right
path until after the fact. Every once in a while, though, something happens
that let’s you know you’re headed in the right direction.
Whether you call it a coincidence or a sign, it’s hard to ignore.
And, maybe it shouldn’t be ignored.

On May 11, 2011, Chase Alexander Soliman entered the world. He shares his birthday with my wife (whose birthday is the day after my
own). We thought this was a cool coincidence, all three of our birthdays
in a two day span.

Then, nine months later (almost to the day), something happened and “coincidence”
just didn’t seem like the word to use.

On February 9, 2012, after a very long day, my wife and I were laying in
bed, sharing stories about how our day had gone. I talked a little bit
about the big news of the day, which was this new idea we were in the
early stages of developing called the “WOW” campaign. I told
her how I thought it was a great idea, but, as with anything in life,
you never know how these things are going to work out.

All of a sudden, we were interrupted by a little voice. Chase was trying
to form his first word. I was so excited that the exhaustion from the
day just kind of melted away. Quickly, I grabbed my camera and started
filming, hoping to catch Chase’s first word. That’s when he said it.

“WOW!”

I looked at my wife. “There’s no way,” I said, a smile
forming on my face.

I kept filming and, sure enough, he said it again.

“WOW!”

I told my wife, “That’s too crazy to be a coincidence. That
has to be a sign.”

And I maintain that it was, in fact, a sign. I believe it was a sign that
we had gotten it right, that we were on the right path as an
organization with the “WOW” movement and that we should keep going with it.

I knew, in that moment, that we have to do whatever it takes to “WOW”
our clients. But I knew, too, that we have to reach beyond our own clients.
We need to make “WOW” the catalyst to change the entire service industry.

We had to use “WOW” in order to “move the world”
and make it a better place for the future.

Looking back, it seems so obvious. Using “WOW” to “move
the world” is the right thing to do. I knew that. Still, when Chase
spoke his first word, he “WOW’ed” me.

And, he let me know that the “WOW” movement was more important
than I ever could have realized. After all, I have a personal stake in
the welfare of the future. I have to make the world a better place not
just for the sake of the industry, but, more importantly, because Chase
is counting on it.